At our small group meeting (aka Bible study) last night, I shared that my boys have been teaching me about God lately. Not necessarily by their behavior, but more by what words I hear coming out of my own mouth (or at least my thoughts).
Statement #1: Trust me. Just obey.
We were working on a project together (don't remember what it was, but I think it was something for him), and he had several questions about how or why something needed to be done a certain way. What made it more difficult was that his hands weren't still as he asked the questions. He didn't seem to be be ready to be patient enough to hear the answers before he went with my plan (the order and speed that were necessary for that particular project). What's more, this project would have been very difficult to verbally explain to him...just too complicated to understand by hearing about it (at least for a 9 year old!)
So I needed to pause, look him in the eye, and say "Trust me. Just obey. You'll see."
Once I uttered those words, I realized that this is what God says to us. We don't understand HIS plans, or his timing, and since His ways and thoughts are far above ours, there's no way that we could comprehend His plan before we just Trust Him and Obey. Also, I realized that as I said these words to my son, it wasn't that I was wanting to shut him up or demand obedience for my own ego. It was just the best advice for getting the project done. It just made sense. It was out of love for him that I said it.
Statement #2: If you love me, obey me
One of my boys had been having a terrible day, with respect to appropriate, obedient behavior. Breaking rules, doing immature, disrespectful, frustrating things more often than usual. Then, later in the day, he hugged me and said, "I love you, Dad."
On one hand, that's precious and I need to accept it as genuine and say, "I love you, too." (which I did this time)
On the other hand, I feel like saying (and have at times), "If you love me, obey me." Wow...
This is exactly what Jesus said to his disciples.
Do I love Jesus? (Yes. I claim to be a Christ-follower.)
Then do I obey him? (The more I walk with Christ, the more I realize that I don't obey Him nearly as often as I could/should...)
Conviction with grace and love, not condemnation with guilt and shame
As I continue to be a dad, teaching my sons about God, about the world, about wisdom and maturity, the more I seem to hear God's voice in my own head...saying things like:
And yet, these echoes of my own voice in my head from the Holy Spirit are never filled with guilt and shame. Just conviction. Maybe this is because I don't ever want my sons to feel like I don't love them, or that they have to EARN my love for them. I don't want to break their spirit.
Well, that's how God operates, too. He doesn't want to break our spirits, laying on us a load of guilt and shame. He desperately wants us to know how much He loves us.
These are just some of the things that being a father helps me learn about my heavenly Father.
Statement #1: Trust me. Just obey.
We were working on a project together (don't remember what it was, but I think it was something for him), and he had several questions about how or why something needed to be done a certain way. What made it more difficult was that his hands weren't still as he asked the questions. He didn't seem to be be ready to be patient enough to hear the answers before he went with my plan (the order and speed that were necessary for that particular project). What's more, this project would have been very difficult to verbally explain to him...just too complicated to understand by hearing about it (at least for a 9 year old!)
So I needed to pause, look him in the eye, and say "Trust me. Just obey. You'll see."
Once I uttered those words, I realized that this is what God says to us. We don't understand HIS plans, or his timing, and since His ways and thoughts are far above ours, there's no way that we could comprehend His plan before we just Trust Him and Obey. Also, I realized that as I said these words to my son, it wasn't that I was wanting to shut him up or demand obedience for my own ego. It was just the best advice for getting the project done. It just made sense. It was out of love for him that I said it.
Statement #2: If you love me, obey me
One of my boys had been having a terrible day, with respect to appropriate, obedient behavior. Breaking rules, doing immature, disrespectful, frustrating things more often than usual. Then, later in the day, he hugged me and said, "I love you, Dad."
On one hand, that's precious and I need to accept it as genuine and say, "I love you, too." (which I did this time)
On the other hand, I feel like saying (and have at times), "If you love me, obey me." Wow...
This is exactly what Jesus said to his disciples.
Do I love Jesus? (Yes. I claim to be a Christ-follower.)
Then do I obey him? (The more I walk with Christ, the more I realize that I don't obey Him nearly as often as I could/should...)
Conviction with grace and love, not condemnation with guilt and shame
As I continue to be a dad, teaching my sons about God, about the world, about wisdom and maturity, the more I seem to hear God's voice in my own head...saying things like:
That's what I'VE been saying to YOU!
Exactly! That's what I'M like!
Right! That's how YOU need to treat ___, too!
And yet, these echoes of my own voice in my head from the Holy Spirit are never filled with guilt and shame. Just conviction. Maybe this is because I don't ever want my sons to feel like I don't love them, or that they have to EARN my love for them. I don't want to break their spirit.
Well, that's how God operates, too. He doesn't want to break our spirits, laying on us a load of guilt and shame. He desperately wants us to know how much He loves us.
These are just some of the things that being a father helps me learn about my heavenly Father.
